Schools Meeting Goal On Advanced Courses

January 17, 2001|By TAMIKA SIMMONS Education Writer

The Broward County School Board has taken some positive steps toward satisfying at least one requirement of a court settlement between the district and a group of minority parents who alleged their children had received a substandard education, a report released on Tuesday said.

The report, prepared by the Broward schools' office of research and evaluation, shows that more than two-thirds of the high schools in Broward County offer a core Advanced Placement curriculum and the breadth of courses the two parties had agreed to in the settlement.

Those core courses are Advanced Placement English Literature, English language, calculus, biology, history, and Spanish or French.

"They wanted to make sure that the highest-rigor course offerings were available to students at all high-school levels, at all schools," said Katherine Blasik, executive director of the office of research and development.

In an agreement reached last July between the School Board and members of Citizens Concerned for Our Children, the School Board agreed to pay $485,000 in damages, court costs and legal fees.

They also agreed to assess access to textbooks, computer technology, Advanced Placement courses and new buildings.

Blasik said on Tuesday that the district performs an annual evaluation of students' performance in Advanced Placement classes, so the diversity of the curriculum was "a natural area for this office to look at."

But what the School Board has yet to determine is how many minority students are participating in the Advanced Placement courses at county schools.

For example, schools like McArthur and Nova high schools provide students with all seven of the required core courses, but district officials do not know what portion of the schools' approximately 25 percent black population is enrolled in those classes.

That might be an issue individual schools will have to address, Blasik said.

"Another one of the goals of the district is this focus on closing the achievement gap and ensuring that participation in the higher-level courses are representative of the entire school population," Blasik said. "Principals are going to have to sit down with their teams and look at whether there are practices and strategies that can be put in place that increase minority participation."

Levi Williams, an attorney who represented parents in the CCC lawsuit, said past district reports have shown some increase in participation by minority students in Advanced Placement classes.

He said, however, that special attention should be paid to such schools as Hallandale and Blanche Ely high schools, two institutions that have historically been neglected.

Both schools carry all the required Advanced Placement courses.

"Minority students have been performing very well in these classes," Williams said. "These are the things we have been saying to the district all along. If you build it, they will come."

Tamika Simmons can be reached at tsimmons@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7909.